Select
Select is the sketch's pointer. Use it to pick pieces and points, move them, delete them, group them, and start every relation. It is the tool the sketch returns to when another tool ends. On the Sketch tab it is the first button after Sketch.
When to Use It
- Pick pieces to delete, move, mirror or tie together with a relation
- Double-click a piece to type its size
- Drag a box round many pieces at once
- Combine lines and arcs into one outline, or break an outline apart
Step by Step
- Open a sketch (see Planes and Faces).
- Click Select on the Sketch tab, or press S. The button lights up.
- Click a piece. It lights up and is selected. Click another piece to add it. Each further click adds one, and a click on a piece that is already selected drops it. A click on empty space clears the selection.
- To pick a point rather than a whole piece (an end, a corner, a center), move the pointer near it: small point marks show, and a click takes the mark.
- Do something with the selection:
- Press Delete to remove it.
- Press the mouse on a selected piece and drag to move the whole selection. Release to drop it.
- Rest the mouse for about half a second to get the relation bar (see Relations).
- Right-click for the menu (below).
- To draw again, click a drawing tool.
Options
- Box select: hold Shift and drag a rectangle. Every piece with an end, its middle or a stretch of its curve inside the box joins the selection. A long straight line that only crosses the box is not picked. Without Shift, a drag on empty space still turns the view.
- Double-click a piece: opens its size box, focused and ready to type (see Dimensions and Units). Double-clicking Sketch Text opens its panel instead (see Sketch Text).
- Part edges: where no sketch piece is, a click picks an edge of the part, so a relation or dimension can use it. Part edges are grey and never move.
- Right-click menu:
- Group and Ungroup: grouped pieces select, move and delete together; each stays editable on its own
- Combine: joins lines and arcs that meet end to end into one outline that extrudes or cuts as one profile
- Break apart: turns a combined outline, or a drawn rectangle or polygon, back into separate pieces
- Edit Text: opens the Text panel for a selected piece of text
- Delete: removes the selection
- The top of the menu, under Make them, lists the relations that fit the selection
Tips
- Combined outlines cannot hold a relation or a dimension. Break apart first, add the relation, then combine again.
- Dragging a selection moves it freely; it does not obey a size you typed. To move a point and keep the relations true, use Node.
- One Undo takes back a whole move.
- Key S can be changed under Settings, Shortcuts.
Common Problems
- Nothing happens when I drag: a drag that starts on empty space turns the view. Start on a selected piece to move it, or hold Shift to box select.
- Delete does nothing: Delete removes the selected pieces. If a point was picked with Node, it removes that point instead (see Node). Click a piece with Select first.
- The menu items are grey: Group needs two pieces, Combine needs two or more lines or arcs, Break apart needs a combined outline or a rectangle or polygon.